10 things that make my 10 month old angry

Head thrown back, mouth open wide. The cry has yet to exit the body. Her face is turning red and there’s the scream. My 10-month-old daughter Eliza sounds like she is in a life-altering amount of pain, but actually, I just stopped her from eating the dog’s kibble.

We are officially in the temper tantrum phase of having an infant, and while they can drive me absolutely nuts, they are also pretty funny.

In honor of her turning 10 months old on May 1, I’m going to present you with 10 things that make her throw world-class tantrums.

1. Barricading the kitchen

Due to her aforementioned desire to eat dog food, we typically use an old TV box to barricade the doorway into the kitchen. This isn’t a perfect system since the dogs do want access to both the living room and their food and water.

After letting the dogs into the kitchen, I swing the box back shut to keep the little tyrant from choking on dog food. This elicits a fit, including violent waving of the arms.

2. Wiping the nose

Over the last few weeks, Eliza has had a cold that has caused her nose to run. Some mornings she wakes up with crusty boogers all over.

I would love to gently take a warm cloth to her face and clean her little nose, but unfortunately, she has determined that wiping the nose is a heinous offense. The head is swinging side to side and the arms are incredibly strong, shoving away my hands.

3. Laying on her back

Diaper changes, getting dressed? No problem as long as she isn’t on her back. I’ve somewhat mastered getting her dressed while she’s standing or sitting, but the diaper changes aren’t very adaptable. Luckily she picks and chooses her battles with this one.

4. Not being allowed outside

The dogs need to go outside to go to the bathroom. If that front door opens, she’s raring to go outside. That’s fine most of the time, but she doesn’t really understand that weather exists.

Sorry lady, we aren’t standing outside in a rainstorm. The arms are waving violently again.

5. Mom left the vicinity

I think most moms understand this one. I’ve become very good at sneaking away. The only exception to this is daycare. She could not care less when I leave at daycare. She’s in her happy place.

6. Keeping her from danger

Whether it’s stopping her from falling facefirst down the stairs, pulling herself up on a rickety TV tray or grabbing the charger from her tiny fist, she is just not a fan of being told she can’t have something she wants.

Then if I react too drastically, like when she reached for a pair of scissors, that also makes her cry.

This also includes all of the things she wants to put in her mouth outside. We took her to the old ECC playground to crawl around because it’s a soft surface, and all she wanted was to put every tiny rock in her mouth. Do you know how many tiny rocks there are? Millions.

7. Withholding adult food

She may not talk yet, but her face is saying “what do you mean I can’t have chips and queso?” Sorry lady, I read somewhere that chips are no bueno for your little mouth.

Sunday night my husband made us steak and potatoes. The looks she gave could have killed as she stood there holding onto my leg.

8. Taking too long with the food

If you give Eliza all her food, she will often eat a few pieces and then throw a bunch to the dogs. To offset this, we give her a few pieces at a time. This is fine as long as you keep the food coming. If that tray is empty, the smacks are going to start. One or both hands start slapping the tray as she waits for her food. This is especially true when she is waiting for her puffs or yogurt melts. Smack, smack — she wants more!

9. Getting out of the bath

Bath time is the best time. From splishing and splashing to banging the toys on the side of the tub, the frowns always turn to smiles in the bath. But all good things must come to an end. Going out of the tub onto the towel is just the worst.

10. Carseat boredom

Oh do I miss the days when she slept all the way to Wisconsin. Now we get a few hours of napping and then it’s time to entertain. I remember the time I thought she was starving (we were out of bottles) and I rushed her in the house, got her a bottle and all she wanted was to play. Lord help us on our flight to D.C. in July.

All in all, Eliza is still a pretty chill little baby, but boy does she have a big personality. I wonder where she gets that from?